5 fastest Test innings by Indian batsmen

#4 Kapil Dev - 73(52) vs Pakistan at Karachi - 1982-83, [12*4s, 1*6, SR - 137.73]

If the media had been around in the 80s, Kapil's popularity would have soared much as Dhoni's did in the 2000s. Like Dhoni, Kapil also came from a humble background and instilled self-belief in a team through his virtuoso performances. I suggest readers check out the 7-page profile on Kapil Dev's 7-56 vs Pakistan in Patrick Ferriday's book 'Supreme Bowling' to get a sense a small town boy's experience of the bureaucratic hierarchy of the Indian dressing room.

Now to the innings in question, India was completely humiliated during the 1982/83 tour of Pakistan. 3 Pakistani batsmen scored more than 500 runs against India's modest bowling line-up, but much more humiliating was India's much-vaunted batting line-up failing against the rampaging Imran Khan who galloped 40 wickets for the series. It is this context that Kapil's innings of 73 in the second Test at Karachi seems all the greater. India was put into bat on a flat deck and swiftly reduced to 55-4 when Kapil came into bat. In a breath-taking innings full of deft-cuts, sweeps, and off-drives, Kapil took the Pakistani bowling (especially Abdul Qadir) to the cleaners and helped his team escape utter annihilation. India eventually capitulated to an innings defeat, but Kapil did what he did best, make his presence felt in even the deadest of circumstances.